Katieshack

U.S. Open Sectionals produce hopefuls and disappoint Tour veterans

Today was a somewhat surprising day as far as U.S. Open qualifying is concerned. Across the country, hundreds of hopefuls teed it up at 12 sites to earn a coveted spot in the U.S. Open Championship at Pebble Beach Golf Links (two international sites saw action in May). Many advanced. Perhaps the larger story, however, are those that didn't make the cut.

Fresh off their one-two finish at the Memorial, neither Justin Rose or Rickie Fowler actually made it through sectional qualifying. A little jaw-dropping that someone can win a PGA Tour event and the next day not top a field of U.S. Open hopefuls? Definitely. But that's the allure of golf: You never know what a particular day on the links will bring.

It's a feat in itself to even make it to a U.S. Open Sectional Qualifier. This year, the USGA accepted 9,052 entries, the second-most entries in the event's 110-year history. After that, those golfers enter 18-hole U.S. Open Local Qualifying at one of 111 sites. Make it past that, and the last thing standing in a golfer's way is that pesky Sectional, a 36-hole day that produces the final players in the U.S. Open field.

I've attended some of these sectional qualifiers, and it's both an amazing and weird cross-section of players. You have your young outstanding amateurs, like a Rickie -- circa 2008 -- and Joseph Bramlett, with their dad or buddy (or nobody) on the bag. In the same group you may have a Vijay Singh or other pro who fell below the top 50 mark (Vijay, incidentally, earned a coveted exemption to avoid qualifying this year) with his PGA Tour caddie complete with white jumpsuit and bib. Don't forget your Tony Romo or other famous athlete, setting aside their lifeblood for a moment to pursue their passion for the sticks.

Here's some names you definitely know who teed it up in Sectionals today (click here for the full list of sites and qualifiers):

Tom Kite (Colorado): DID NOT QUALIFY. Kite tied for third at his qualifier today, shooting 69-68--137, 7 under par. Kite actually won the 1992 U.S. Open at Pebble. It's unfortunate they only took two from this site, Kite would've been fun to watch.

Corey Pavin (Illinois): DID NOT QUALIFY. The 2010 Ryder Cup captain and 1995 U.S. Open winner secured a Second Alternate standing with his fourth-place finish (70-71--141), but fell three strokes short of qualifying.

Jason Gore (Maryland): QUALIFIED! The 1997 California State Amateur champion, current PGA Tour pro and Valencia resident  tied for medalist honors at his qualifying site, shooting 72-64--136. Truly nice guy to boot. He's one to root for.

Tony Romo (Texas): DID NOT QUALIFY. The Dallas Cowboys go-to withdrew after a second rain delay at his site pushed the qualifier to tomorrow. He gave it a great shot.

Colin Montgomerie (England): DID NOT QUALIFY. Wonder why, karma perhaps? No comment.

Eric Axley, Stuart Appleby, Bo Van Pelt, Tom Lehman, Ben Curtis, Aaron Baddeley, Davis Love III, and John Mallinger (Ohio): QUALIFIED! This motley crew of big names (including Long Beach native Mallinger) are going to the open. In their wake include (among many other known names) Rocco Mediate, Kevin Sutherland, Jonathan Byrd, Tim Petrovic, D.J. Trahan, Bubba Watson, Justin Rose, Kevin Streelman, Bill Haas, Charley Hoffman, Rickie Fowler, J.B. Holmes, Jeff Maggert, Woody Austin, and Jay Haas. Wow.

Spencer Levin, Charlie Wi and David Berganio (Sacramento): DID NOT QUALIFY. This California trio collectively missed the boat, and were really not even close to qualifying. It happens.

In the amateur circuit, the No. 2 amateur in the world, Nick Taylor, failed to qualify in  Portland, while Saratoga's Joseph Bramlett did make it through at the Sacramento site (go Joseph!). Bakersfield's Bhavik Patel lost in a playoff at that Sacramento site.

After seeing all of the golfers that missed the cut, it gives a little different appreciation for the talent that did make it to the Open, doesn't it?

Rickie Fowler tops Memorial; CIF wins remembered

 

As the PGA Tour's Rickie Fowler tops the leaderboard at the Memorial Tournament in Ohio, I'd like to take a moment to remember the high-school prodigy Rickie Fowler, the Murrieta wonder kid who broke pars, set records and won the CIF Championships like it was no one's business, and all before he was 18. 

All of us SoCal golf folks knew this kid was going to be something. He had the look. He had the hair. He had the fan club that attended every championship (including an adorable entourage of little girls who wore Rickie t-shirts and carried poster board signs). 

In 2004 as a freshman, Rickie shot a 64 at what is now the Golf Club at Rancho California, taking his first CIF-SCGA Southern Regional High School Boys Championship title. Come 2006, he won his first CIF-State title at Santa Maria CC, which he shyly told me afterward, "The win feels good." 

One year later, as a senior at Murrieta Valley High School, he won what would be his last CIF-SoCal Regional title, before embarking for Oklahoma State University. Not before he earned the 2007 SCGA Player of the Year title, however, thanks to strong finishes in many national junior and amateur invitational events. 

Apart from the image and the talent, which many players have, he clearly had the confidence to make this all happen, and it's fun to see the results. Puma loves him. Golf writers love him. Girls love him. He's a brand now.

Rickie will go down with a number of other notable Southland CIF-winners-turned-PGA-Tour-players who never won the SCGA Amateur Championship (like Phil Mickelson, a fellow CIF winner) and the California Golf Association State Amateur at that (ahem, Tiger Woods, although he did take the 1994 SCGA Amateur). Yet unlike most of the winners of those events, his success in his young Tour career has been impressive...will the Memorial be his first Tour title?

Here's a couple favorite photos I took during Rickie's 2007 CIF win. Gotta love the braces. I have a few I took from the 2008 U.S. Open also, that will be posted later.

And in the words of '80s singer Toni Basil, and with the words changed from Mickey to Rickie, I think the following lyrics/sentiments are appropriate to root him to Memorial victory: 

Oh Rickie you golf so fine/You golf so fine you blow our minds/Hey Rickie/Hey Rickie.

Pebble's grandstands are up

We're only 11 days from the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, and the video above shows a cool time lapse of the grandstands going up! This particular shot is of the 18th hole; I'd like to remind everyone that I bogeyed this particular hole thanks to some really stellar approach shots. Go me.  

Aside from being a winner, who is Sun Young Yoo?

As the title states, still no one really knows who this player is, but 23-year-old Sun Young Yoo defeated LPGA vet Angela Stanford 3 & 1 today to win the Sybase Match Play Championship. At least No. 1 seed Jiyai Shin salvaged her consolation match against Amy Yang, 3 & 2.

An interesting tidbit to the finale of the inaugural Sybase Match Play was that it is the eighth consecutive LPGA Tour win by a foreign player, and the 25th out 26 events? Wondering who the one non-foreign player was that won? Ms. Michelle Wie, when she won the Lorena Ochoa Invitational. Before that, it was Christie Kerr, who won the Michelob Ultra Open more than a year ago. Kerr, the No. 5 seed in the Sybase, lost to Sun Young Yoo in their second match.

So now that she's a winner, let's get to know some other facts about Sun Young Yoo:

• She's from South Korea, and turned pro in 2005.
• Her best finish at a major was T12, in the 2009 Kraft Nabisco Championship.
• She doesn't have a sponsor.
• Her best score is 64, which she's shot in both 2008 and 2009.
• Best 2009 moment was ending up in her first career playoff at the P&G Beauty, where she square off against none other than Jiyai Shin and Angela Stanford (she lost).

Guess she'll be one to keep an eye on in future events. 

***UPDATE***

The LPGA just released its transcript from the post-round interview with Sun Young Yoo, as well as some interesting background into her life, like the fact that her 27-year-old sister was recently in a serious car accident the same day that Sun Young Yoo had a terrible dream that something was wrong. 

"The sisters believe that when something bad happens, it is 'reverse karma,'" the LPGA wrote, "meaning that something good will happen in return. Yoo believes that this win was that something good in return."

Bob Hope Classic has a new website

In poking around online this morning I ran across the snazzy new website for the Bob Hope Classic -- the event will celebrate its 51st anniversary on Jan. 18-24, 2010. Pat Perez took the crown last year, and many SCGA alums have recognized victory in the past, including former high school standouts Phil Mickelson (2002 and '04) and Charley Hoffman (2007) as well as Corey Pavin (1987 and '91) and Craig Stadler (1980).

In addition to providing event updates, the site hosts volunteer sign-up for the Classic, photo galleries from past events, history and more from the iconic tournament. Visitors will also have the chance to win tickets and other prizes by entering a variety of contests online, including a haiku contest, photo caption contests and trivia.

In keeping with the ever-expanding social networking options out there, fans can also follow the Classic on Facebook and Twitter, both before and during the championship. Want tickets to the event? While they can be purchased on the Classic website, the SCGA Foundation will be selling tickets to this, and all other Southern California PGA Tour events, with proceeds benefiting the Foundation and its many great programs.

The host course will be the Palmer Private at PGA West, which joined the Classic rotation in 1988. Other courses in play in 2010 include La Quinta Country Club, a Classic course since 1965, SilverRock Resort, which debuted in 2008, and the Nicklaus Private Course at PGA West, which returns to the rotation for the second consecutive year.

Keep an eye out for the January 2010 issue of FORE Magazine, which will feature its annual Spotlight on Desert Golf, and make it out to La Quinta in January to take part in all the fun that the Bob Hope Classic has to offer!

Get it while it's hot: Torrey Pines

Let the countdown begin: golfers still have until May 21 to play Torrey Pines Golf Course before it closes to prepare for the U.S. Open Championship on June 12-15.

To the envy of many of my peers (golf industry and non), I had the opportunity to play the venerable South Course recently, on a whirlwind San Diego trip sponsored by the San Diego Convention and Visitors Bureau with a handful of media members from around the country and Canada (teamed with a Winnepegan general assignment newspaper reporter who had never crafted a golf story, it was an enlightening, laughter-filled day to say the least). I was the only one from California; born and raised by the water, I'm a little jaded with the many miles of ocean we have, but the others were mesmerized by the coastal views many of the holes allow. Home to the Buick Invitational each February, the 1957 William P. Bell layout, redesigned by Rees Jones in 2001, hosted the 2003 SCGA Amateur Championship. Read more about the course and what goes into running a U.S. Open championship in the next issue of FORE Magazine.

So here's the thing with championship-prepped Torrey Pines: don't expect to play well. Already at 90 percent tournament conditions, the course is rough. Literally. Unless you hit the ball straight every shot, you're in the thick and sticky kikuyu rough, and with no first cut in the fairways, a ball even an inch off proves to be a nightmare to get out, or even to find. I didn't lose a ball until the 11th hole, a feat I was, quite honestly, shocked at (we had an eagle-eye in our group, our saving grace, who had a fantasmo ability and really a seventh sense to locate our golf balls). A player in another group, however, lost 14 balls, which is not as surprising in person as it may sound. So bring a couple extra sleeves. Let's simplify this even further: to make life easier, just go in with no expectations (or equally thrilling, without the faintest idea of how you'll play, like I do every round...it's my mantra: not only does the element of surprise make things exciting when you have no idea where the ball will go, but if you break 100, you're pumped!); no expectations equal minimized disappointment in your game. You're prepping the wound before it's actually wounded. This course is a humbling experience to say the least.

All that being said, be a part of history and play Torrey Pines while you can (the course will re-open a week after the championship if you can't make it before). Tournament conditions also equal cart path only, therefore beautiful, flawless fairways, vivid colors and a taste of where the pros will be walking and what the'll be looking at in a couple of months. Hitting a good shot out there is exciting and gives an entirely different and newfound appreciation for your game. Players are restricted from playing the back tees, a major hike at more than 7,600 yards, meaning that ego golfers won't slow down pace of play as they try in vain to channel their professional side from way back in the boonies (I can say this because I witnessed it twice, and if there was any inkling of doubt before as to why mortal golfers shouldn't try a tee shot from say, the 614-yard par-5 ninth hole, I can attest that the tees are restricted for good reason). This course is about the experience, the scenery, the stories and memories you'll make. And when you're watching the U.S. Open on television—or in person—in June, you can say, "Yeah, I've played there."

Off the course: great lunches in The Grill at Torrey Pines, challenging croquet matches on the lawn at The Lodge at Torrey Pines, and primo (aka $$$) merchandise in the 4,000-square-foot golf shop, consistenly ranked one of Golf Shop Operations' 100 Best Golf Shops in America.

Don't have too much fun.

Tour Caddie Dies in Del Mar

While PGA Tour golfers should have been amping up for the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines in San Diego this week, they were instead mourning the loss of the industry’s most colorful and talented caddies.

Canadian native Steve Duplantis died in Del Mar very early Wednesday morning when he stepped off a center median curb and was struck by a taxi. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

While Duplantis was on the bag for Eric Axley for the Buick, the infamous “free spirit” (who was known in the industry for having a healthy but damaging nightlife) at his young age of 35 had previously won four times with Jim Furyk in the mid-1990s, as well as with Rich Beem at the Kemper Open and with Tommy Armour III when he set the tour's 72-hole scoring record at the 2003 Texas Open. His partying reputation was overshadowed by his ability to bring out the best in the players he worked with. See Golf.com’s complete story HERE.

Due to his caddieing success at an early age, “Furyk's success allowed Steve to dive headfirst into the hard-partying caddie culture,” writes Alan Shipnuck of Sports Illustrated, who also penned the book Bud, Sweat & Tees, a candid look at the Beem-Duplantis pair. “At the '95 Colonial, [Duplantis] met a stripper named Vicki with the gravity-defying proportions of Jessica Rabbit. After the first round, they spent the night together, and Steve crawled out of bed just in time to make it to Furyk's 8:17 a.m. tee time. He cut an unmistakable figure: bed-head, an inside-out polo shirt, leather dress shoes and no yardage guide to be found. It was a sign of things to come. Steve and Vicki were married after a whirlwind 19-day courtship, and the stormy relationship became only more complicated when a daughter, Sierra, was born in early 1996, two days after Furyk's victory at the Hawaiian Open.” Read Shipnuck’s recount of the caddie’s life HERE.

I suppose there are many obvious morals and lessons one could draw from this tragedy, but I’m not going to be the one to point them out. Instead, I suggest we try to live our lives to the fullest and enjoy the game to the best of our abilities as we all do.

Timberlake to host PGA Tour event

For those of you who don’t know me that well, I have a secret that will likely make many people lose a lot of respect for me (as well as have those that do know me roll their eyes, stifle a laugh and nod): I used to be in love with a boy band member.

Before you judge (since we all have our own idiosyncrasies), hear me out. And yes, this is golf related.

I was a young girl when I first laid eyes on Justin Timberlake, dancing and singing his little blond curly head off on Disney’s The New Mickey Mouse Club back in '93. Sigh, those were the days. A few years later, during my freshman year of high school, he resurfaced with four other chaps in the Orlando-based boy band *NSYNC (I had every album. And book. And poster. And even the Valentine’s Day official *NSYNC conversation hearts.). Despite the fact that our relationship was unrequited, I moved on, watched his solo career take off into another stratosphere, and worked on my own career path as well, being the independent woman I am.

And now, turnabout. He has followed me into the golf world.

Timberlake, 26, who recently obtained membership at Los Angeles’ MountainGate Country Club, will become only the 14th celebrity to host an official PGA tournament, when the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open embarks on Las Vegas next year (click here for more). Formerly known as the Frys.com Open from 2006-07 (George McNeill is the defending champion), Timberlake’s involvement in the five-year agreement will include playing in the event’s pro-am, as well as hosting a concert during the tournament week.

That’s my guy.

The avid golfer, who plays to a 6-handicap and is rumored to have been taking lessons to get down to scratch, joins a list of some of the most well-known (and well-liked) celebrities of their times, including Bob Hope (the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, now hosted by Lakeside member and comedian George Lopez), Sammy Davis, Jr. (the Sammy Davis Jr. Greater Hartford Open, now known as the Travelers Championship), and my personal favorite, Ed McMahon(!) (The Ed McMahon-Jaycees Quad Cities Open, now known as the John Deere Classic). See the full list here. He's also participated in the celebrity portions of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am and Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

Ahh, golf. Rekindling long-lost relationships and bringing people together for the good of life and the game.

Pernice's British Open Travel Adventures

Bear Creek GC honorary member Tom Pernice, Jr., of Murrieta, hopped over the pond to play in the British Open last weekend, but not without a grueling travel itinerary, as Golfweek's Jeff Rude chronicled. In my own abridged interpretation of the article, here are the phases a professional player goes through to play in a tournament that Pernice says can "make a difference in your life." Preface: before leaving Los Angeles, Pernice is only a second alternate for the British Open, but books a flight to Scotland anyway.

Phase 1: Practical Optimism. Pernice takes a red-eye flight to Houston (arriving early Monday morning) to get in a quick practice session with instructor Jim Hardy before playing in the U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. While in L.A., he checks his luggage through to Milwaukee.

Phase 2: Building Anticipation. Upon arriving for his lesson, he learns via text message that he is up to first alternate. To further build suspense, friend Vijay Singh calls from Scotland and tells him to come. Pernice obliges.

Phase 3: Personal SIG Alert. While one could normally continue his travels to Scotland from Houston, remember that Pernice's luggage is now in Milwaukee. Monday afternoon after his lesson, he flies to Milwaukee, practices at the U.S. Bank tournament site Tuesday morning, and early that afternoon, flies to New Jersey in order to catch that coveted flight to Edinburgh, Scotland, that night.

Phase 4: The Pay-off. Pernice arrives at Carnoustie at 12:45 p.m. Wednesday, and tees it up with Singh in a practice round only 25 minutes later. Upon arriving in the country, he learns that Jose Maria Olazabal, the one player standing in his way of playing, withdrew thanks to a hurt knee. Victory, in a sense, is his.

Phase 5: Pre-Tournament Panic. Still in the U.S....Realizing that his passport had expired, Pernice's caddie (and cousin) Brett Waldman frantically tries for two days (Monday and Tuesday) to secure one. He succeeds. Ironically, he and Pernice arrive in Scotland close to the same time.

Phase 6: The Second Wind and Letdown. Let the games begin. After opening with a 3-over 74 and literally not sleeping that night, Pernice shoots a 73 in the second round and misses the cut by one stroke. "It was worth the chance," he’s quoted in the Golfweek article.

If you lost count, Pernice endured a total of four flights (with two red-eyes) and 20 consecutive hours of travel. Raise your hand if you still want to be a professional golfer.

The (True) Spirit of the Game

The SCGA recently held its first Parent/Junior Championship at Marbella Country Club in San Juan Capistrano, which is not only our first SCGA junior tournament in recent years, but the first family event we’ve held as well.

I have been fortunate in my time at the SCGA to be privy to many tournaments and have been around many wonderful players (both personality- and talent-wise), but this particular tournament was different: with young players (both male and female) ranging from age 7 to 17, teaming up with their fathers, grandfathers and step-fathers in the modified foursomes format, it was perhaps one of the most inspirational and refreshing tournaments I have been exposed to.

In a nutshell, this tournament reflected the true spirit of the game of golf. Let me explain.

In general, most golf tournaments you go to these days or see on TV, both professional and amateur, feature someone (or a few people) who dampen the mood of the day by complaining about whatever it was affecting their round: “the greens were awful,” “the rough was dangerously thick,” and “that hole placement was unfair” are pretty much the standard lines no matter the level of golf being played (I won’t argue with validity of these statements, although they’re frequently said out of frustration). The term “sandbagger,” used both in jest and seriousness, is a popular one whether in a leisurely game or competitive match, as is, “that person shouldn’t be out here,” or “they aren’t good enough to be in the field.” They sink a putt for par and aren’t happy, or hit a drive offline and slam their club into the ground. Relaxing to watch, similar to a ticking time bomb.

This tournament was different, though. Most, if not all, of these talented kids are not jaded by competition (yet). To see the genuine excitement on the faces and in the voices of the players, both kids and parents, after making a long putt or hitting a great approach shot onto the green was, for lack of a better phrase, REALLY fun. The praise, high-fiving, pats on the back and motivation out there was nice. Although there were two flights, different ages of players were playing together. Many players could not stop talking about what a beautiful course it was and how much they enjoyed playing it. When 12-year-old Frank Cuccia, Jr. scored his first ace ever on the 117-yard 11th hole with his 5-iron, he was beaming the entire day. When 7-year-old Blake Keesey, the youngest and perhaps most talked-about player in the tournament (see the next issue of FORE), came to the scoring area with his father, Victor, and saw the table of silver winners’ plates, he gasped and said, “Wow, those plates are so beautiful.”

When he and his father ended up winning the Vice President Flight of the championship and Blake raised the oversized champions’ plate over his head, the entire field roared with applause and chanted his name.

All and all, it was good, clean golf fun.

This “true spirit” of the game may be different things to different people. To me, however, it’s about appreciation of the sport, enjoyment of the surroundings, camaraderie with both your playing partner and the players in the group, maybe even feeling some sort of pride or satisfaction in an aspect of your game, like a great shot (no matter how dire the round as a whole may have been). Does the true spirit embody competition? Of course it does. That doesn’t mean players have to be excited if they lose — disappointment’s a natural feeling, but is true negativity necessary? No. It doesn’t hurt anyone to be a little happy for the person that wins.

I overheard one of our SCGA committeemen volunteers ask a father if he enjoyed the day. The father smiled, nodded his head, and said something that we should all think about:

“I signed my son and I up for this tournament to spend time with him,” he said. “I work so much and thought this would be a great chance for us to take some time out of our day to be together. I need to do it with all my kids. It was so much more than golf, and we’ll sign up next year because of it.”

Next time you go out to play, think about what golf really is to you, beyond winning. Above anything else, it’s a great opportunity to spend a few hours of quality time with someone you care about and appreciate the activity, which, in the grand scheme of things, is really what’s important.